Many parents are having issues with the Common Core Standards for a variety of reasons, but the CCS is being implemented in almost every school in the country beginning in August. If your child is going into High School, or is already in High School, this will be your first taste of the full CCS. Getting your child ready for the next school year can be done in the first two weeks before school even begins.
Find out about CCS
What is your child’s school or the state doing to implement CCS? Find out! Visit your state’s education website and your child’s school’s site. These will help you determine what to expect for the year so that you can discuss the CCS implementation with your child to prepare them for what will be expected of them.
Learn about the shifts
Visit corestandards.org and look at the things that will be different with CCS and your child’s specific grade. View the “Key Shifts in Mathematics” and “Key Shifts in English Language Arts” pages to get your familiar with the biggest changes. The more you know about the things expected of your child the better off you will all be when school actually begins.
Help your child with apps
There’s an app for that! Really, there’s an app for just about anything related to school, and high school children are particularly good at using technology, so let them. Help your child download apps that will keep them organized and focused on school. Many are free and can go a long way in keeping your child successful. Purchase the app before school begins so that your child can get familiar with it before needing to actually use it.
Start creating good habits
Help your child develop a working homework space and help them with practicing good study and homework habits. Teach them to tune out distractions and reward themselves for reaching milestones. Make sure they know to allow themselves lots of time for studying and homework, and that these things must be done first. These will need to be done before school starts so that they can use them when school begins.
Get them in a routine
Kids, even older kids, strive on a routine. Get them into a routine and discuss why this routine is important so that they will stick with it. Do this at least two weeks before school begins so it is almost a natural ordeal by the time that school bell rings.